page_title: Eusarcana
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Eusarcana / Classification
caption_attribution_description: English: Reconstruction of eurypterid Carcinosoma newlini based on fossils. Coloration derives from conclusions by Kjellesvig-Waering (1958)
context_page_description: Eusarcana is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Eusarcana have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Silurian to the Early Devonian. Classified as part of the family Carcinosomatidae, the genus contains three species, E. acrocephalus, E. obesus and E. scorpionis, from the Silurian-Devonian of Scotland, the Czech Republic and the United States respectively.
  Eusarcana is known for its odd proportions and features; the broad abdomen, thin and long tail, spined and forward-facing walking appendages and sharp and curved tail spike differentiate it from most other eurypterids, but are shared with other carcinosomatid eurypterids. The triangular carapace, oddly positioned forward-facing eyes differentiate the genus further from its closest relatives. At 80 centimetres in length, E. scorpionis represents a moderately large species of eurypterid, and far exceeded other representatives of the genus in size, such as the 4 cm long E. obesus.
  Originally described under the name Eusarcus, this name was preoccupied by a genus of living harvestmen in the family Gonyleptidae.
context_section_description: Eusarcana is classified as part of the family Carcinosomatidae, one of two families within the superfamily Carcinosomatoidea (the other being the Mixopteridae), alongside the genera Carcinosoma, Eocarcinosoma and Rhinocarcinosoma. The cladogram below is adapted from a larger cladogram (simplified to only display the Carcinosomatoidea) in a 2007 study by eurypterid researcher O. Erik Tetlie, in turn based on results from various phylogenetic analyses on eurypterids conducted between 2004 and 2007.
caption: Restoration of Carcinosoma newlini, a related carcinosomatid species
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